**2.3 Poverty alleviation**

The world's urban population is expected to reach 6–9 billion by 2050. It is estimated that poverty will progress from villages to the metro cities by 2030 as 60% of the Earth's population will reside in the cities. Moreover, in most developing countries, urbanization has led to the growth of slum population which has almost doubled in the past 15 years [3]. Also this rapid urbanization in developing countries created difficulty in making sufficient employment opportunities creating very poor living conditions in the slum areas. The presence of UA can definitely meet the requirement of employment to some extent in the cities of developing countries. The effects of UA on poverty alleviation vary with the type of participants involved, the products produced, and the degree of market orientation, among other things. UA often plays an important role in the survival strategies of the urban dwellers, who might be benefited from UA in various ways: Firstly, when a household produces edible crops, their food expenses are reduced and they can do a huge amount of savings. Moreover, the surplus produce can be sold by them in order to make a profitable business [2, 6].
